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Red flag for the right By Nadav Shragai The attack on Prof. Zeev Sternhell is neither surprising nor mere chance. Sternhell is not popular, to put it mildly - not with the extreme right, and not with the moderate right. He has been quoted as making statements that, in the right's view, justified the murder of settlers by terrorists and tried to foment civil war. The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel petitioned the High Court of Justice against Sternhell's receipt of the Israel Prize because of an article he published in Haaretz on May 11, 2001. In that article, he wrote: "Many in Israel, perhaps even the majority of the voters, do not doubt the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. The Palestinians would be wise to concentrate their struggle against the settlements, avoid harming women and children and strictly refrain from firing on Gilo, Nahal Oz or Sderot; it would also be smart to stop planting bombs to the west of the Green Line. By adopting such an approach, the Palestinians would be sketching the profile of a solution that is the only inevitable one: The amended Green Line will be an international border and territory will be handed over to compensate the Palestinians for land that has already been or will be annexed to Israel." Advertisement The High Court rejected the petition and Sternhell got the prize, but his words came back to haunt him. Many on the right and in the settlements, when interviewed by the media after events such as the shooting attack in Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav yeshiva this March, still viewed his statements as a searing insult and incitement to murder. Nor did a statement in an earlier article, published in the now-defunct Davar on April 5, 1988, add to his "popularity" on the right. "Only those who are prepared to take Ofra with tanks can stop the fascist erosion threatening to drown Israel's democracy," he wrote. The attack on Sternhell was apparently carried out not by a known extremist group, but by an individual who heeds neither the rabbis nor other leaders, like the "Sicarii" who harassed leftists and journalists in the early 1990s. The Sicarii set fire to the doors of homes of media figures like Amos Schocken, Dan Margalit and Mina Tzemach, sent threats to politicians and academics, and left fake bombs at the editorial offices of Maariv and Yedioth Ahronoth. Most of the extreme right objects to attacks on Jews, as opposed to attacks on Arabs. Their rabbis strongly object to such acts; even Rabbi Meir Kahane, the unchallenged leader of the Kach movement, who was assassinated by a Muslim in the United States 18 years ago, forbade it. Hence the prompt statement by the Jewish National Front, the successor of the Kach movement, that this is not its way, and it had nothing to do with the attack. A more moderate group, Homesh First, suggested that the pamphlets found at the scene of the attack were a provocation, a la Eyal, the organization founded by Shin Bet security service agent provocateur Avishay Raviv. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fighting words Nasrallah: Jerusalem and Palestine will soon be returned to rightful owners. Paul Newman dies 'Exodus' star and legendary actor Paul Newman succumbs to cancer at age 83.

Read & React Report: U.S. said no to Israeli strike on Iran Responses: 191 Leftist prof.: Bomb attack shows settler violence spilling over Green Line Responses: 116 Survey: American Jews favor Obama over McCain Responses: 99 Mossad chief fights Iran nuclear program his own way Responses: 49 Nasrallah: Return of Jerusalem and Palestine isn't far Responses: 128 More Headlines 01:03 Sec. Council demands Iran halt enrichment, reaffirms old sanctions 23:46 Livni and Mofaz speak for first time since Kadima primary 00:08 17 killed in massive car bombing in Damascus 01:09 ANALYSIS / Damascus bomb is latest event to shake Syrian security 23:58 Syrian FM: Peace negotiations with Israel stalled 22:46 Legendary actor Paul Newman dies after struggle with cancer 11:42 Israel's unseeded Dudi Sela reaches finals of China Open 16:37 Nablus man attempts to kill mother-in-law with poisoned sweets 03:44 Nasrallah: Return of Jerusalem and Palestine closer than ever 20:12 In first debate, Obama and McCain trade blows over Iran policy, Iraq war 03:53 Palin: We mustn't send Iran message U.S. would allow second Holocaust 23:20 German FM: Ahmadinejad's UN speech 'blatant anti-Semitism' 00:00 Palestinians attack settlers visiting the Tomb of the Patriarchs 07:19 Paul McCartney gives Israelis a performance to remember 01:22 Fire destroys main hall of Egypt's National Theater Previous Editions Select Day 26 sep 25 sep 24 sep 23 sep 22 sep 21 sep 19 sep 18 sep 17 sep 16 sep 15 sep 14 sep

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